No abstract

This study examined the fishing industry in Abu Dhabi, the main fish-producing Emirate in the UAE, from the fishermen’s point of view. Marginal analysis was used to identify the most prominent fishing-revenue determinants along with assessing the allocative (price) efficiency of inputs used. A log-log total value product (TVP) function was estimated for a representative cross-section random sample of 131 Abu-Dhabi fishermen. This revealed that (1) labor, fishing effort, boat capacity, boat boarding expenses, and expenditures on oil and lubricants are the five main determinants of total revenue for the individual fishermen in Abu Dhabi; (2) boat-purchase price constituted a huge investment cost to fishermen distributed over the lifetime of the boat; although only one-third of fishermen acquire loans for this purpose; (3) the only type of records fishermen keep were those pertinent to monthly revenues; and (4) price efficiency is found not to be achieved for any of the five prominent inputs that have great impact on total fishermen’s revenues, as three inputs were found to be under-utilized in varying degrees, whereas two were found to be significantly over-utilized.

A cross-section random sample of 485 households residing in Al-Ain, UAE, comprised of 270 Emirati citizens, 116 Arabic-speaking residents, 43 English-speaking residents, and 56 Urdu-speaking residents, was elicited. The questionnaire directed to the heads of the households included two main sections on amounts consumed and expenditures made on each food item bought. The study utilized the procedure of estimating expenditure functions on three main food items/groups: rice, seafood, and meats. Some of the results indicated that (1) income and household size were always critical factors affecting the amount of money spent on the three examined food groups, and (2) the expenditure on the three examined food items/groups was not highly responsive to changes in households' incomes.

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The project objective is to closely investigate select UAE poultry industry production issues as well as technical and marketing aspects. A comprehensive cross-sectional survey was conducted of UAE poultry farms using PDA (Portable Data Assistant) technology. Study objectives include: (1) obtaining baseline information on existing broiler and layer farm subsectors; (2) quantifying the amount of input used in the production process and the outputs obtained, and to identify some main and by-products that might have some economic value; (3) and assessment of feed-utilization produced by the feed industry. Economic characteristics of a typical poultry farm in UAE include: average broiler production at about 2,880 tons; average layer production at about 49 million eggs; and feed cost share of the average farm's operational cost estimated at 95%. This indicates the importance of expanding investment in UAE poultry sector. Efficiency of feed utilization of birds fed feeds from one company was slightly better (1.68 vs. 1.71) than birds fed feeds from the other company. Feed utilization efficiency of selected major feed producers in the UAE could meet the standards of high quality, commonly used meat-type strains. Such results are useful to the decision-maker at both the farm and policy levels.